[donmaq]

SF Bay area, I've had 3 formal house assessments, & each time they "start with" Zillow et al to look at "reasonable values in the neighborhood". Which seriously affects your ability to refi, etc.

So Yeah Zillow has an effect. It's worth it to create a login & enter in your upgrades, so your ZESTIMATE goes up.

[bertjk]

I'm pretty sure that when they say they start with Zillow, they are referring to the feature where it shows recent past sales in your neighborhood, which is an entirely legitimate input into determining a formal appraisal.

[eanzenberg]

Zillow should use that data to actually make estimates. Because they clearly don't, and don't really know how to do predictive analytics.

[jrochkind1]

What is it that makes it "clear" to you they aren't "using data"? What else could the estimates possibly be based on but "data"? You think the computer just randomly chooses a number?

[exhilaration]

It's worth it to create a login & enter in your upgrades, so your ZESTIMATE goes up.

Very nice, thank you, my Zillow estimate is now $5965 higher. We have no intention to sell but if we do, at least I can start the negotiations at a higher price point by pointing to Zillow.

[teuobk]

Incredible -- I just did the same, and my house's "zestimate" went up about $20,000.

Of course, if I compare my house to actual sales in the neighborhood over the past few months, that's probably 10% high, so correcting Zillow's data about my house made the zestimate less accurate, not more.

[Tempest1981]

Try changing the number of bedrooms. That used to have an effect, even for the same square footage. In one case, 2 bedrooms came out higher than 3.

[the-dude]

You just have been 'rewarded' for your interaction with the platform. Thank you.

[freehunter]

Ooooor, Zillow has no way of knowing that you've renovated your kitchen unless you tell them you have...

But yeah, your conspiracy theory nonsense is probably just as legitimate.

[ensignavenger]

Who is doing these "formal assessments"? Are these broker price opinions (performed by a real estate broker)? It seems very odd they would use Zillow data instead of the MLS to find comps.

[acomjean]

When you refinance the bank usually hire someone independent to estimate the value of a property.

I did it before Zillow, and they start with the property value as estimated by the city for tax purposed and look at recent sales that are similar in the area, and adjust.

[ensignavenger]

Yeah, usually either a professional appraiser or a real estate broker- neither one should be relying on data from Zillow, both usually would use data from a local MLS.

[eanzenberg]

Terribly scary that a huge financial decision would depend on giving signing up and giving data to some website.

[gohrt]

In the past it requires that you report the data to the local permitting board.